Spiders are renowned for their ecological versatility and silk-based innovations in materials science, yet marine environments remain virtually uncolonized by this predominantly terrestrial lineage. A striking exception is the obligate intertidal spider genus Desis, whose members have evolved extraordinary physiological and behavioural adaptations to persist in wave-swept, saline habitats that oscillate between land and sea. However, the molecular basis of these adaptations has remained largely unexplored. Here, we present a high-quality, chromosome-scale genome of the intertidal spider Desis jiaxiangi, together with a reference genome of the water spider Argyroneta aquatica, integrated with transcriptomic and proteomic data. This multi-omics framework reveals the genomic architecture underlying adaptation to life at the ocean's edge. We uncover expansions of gene families linked to hormone biosynthesis and DNA repair, alongside signatures of adaptive evolution in genes involved osmoregulation, the rate-limiting step of glycolysis, mitochondrial regulation, epithelial tube morphogenesis and circadian rhythm. Notably, we characterize a novel silk spidroin enriched with a unique GVGAKV motif, which may enhance silk hydrophobicity, and detect the duplication burst of hemocyanin genes likely supporting oxygen transport during submersion. Together, these findings reveal convergent molecular strategies for coping with extreme and fluctuating environments, and demonstrate how genomic innovation enables terrestrial lineages to invade marine-influenced ecosystems. Our study establishes Desis as powerful model for understanding adaptation at terrestrial–marine interface.
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs) pose global threats to human health and ecological safety. Activation of percarbonate (PC) by eco-friendly bismuth oxyiodide (BiOI) is a promising ARB/ARGs removal technique, yet its efficiency is hindered by the insufficient exposure of reactive Bi sites. Herein, we provide a facile protocol to fabricate BiOI with remarkable PC activation efficiency (BOI-C) for the ultrafast ARB/ARGs removal via modulating reactive Bi sites through introducing optimal Bi3-oxygen vacancy (OV) sites on the unsaturated facets. We show that BOI-C with optimal amount of Bi3-OV site can efficiently activate 50 µM PC to rapidly disinfect 7-log ARB to the limit of detection within only 4 min. Moreover, this reaction system can effectively degrade the released ARG and suppress the horizontal gene transfer process, greatly decreasing the risks of ARG dissemination. Negligible toxic halogen-containing disinfection byproducts is generated during the disinfection process, indicating the outstanding ecological safety of BOI-C/PC system. The reaction system can also effectively disinfect ARB under complex water chemistries including a broad pH range (3–9), high ionic strengths (up to 150 mM), copresence of natural organic matter (up to 10 mg L−1), and diverse actual water samples including tap water, lake water, groundwater and aquaculture tailwater. Furthermore, it can also be assembled into a filtration system for successive ARB disinfection, demonstrating the feasibility for practical application. The catalytic system also exhibits excellent ARB disinfection performance across various bacterial strains and effective degradation performance towards different types of emerging organic pollutants, suggesting its universal decontamination capability. Combining in-situ characterizations and theoretical calculations, we reveal that Bi3-OV sites on the unsaturated facets of BOI-C facilitate the p-p interaction with peroxy O atoms of PC molecules and trigger the electron transfer as well as the subsequent cleavage of peroxy bonds, generating abundant CO3•− for the ultrafast ARB disinfection. The results of this study show that BOI-C/PC system can be employed to effectively remove antibiotic resistance in real water.
Underground hydrogen storage in saline aquifers is an irreplaceable option for large-scale hydrogen usage amid the transition to net-zero, with the urgent demand for clean energy. However, accurate hydrogen storage capacity evaluation is currently hindered by the lack of accessible analytical tools that simultaneously account for engineering constraints and hydrogen-specific biogeochemical losses. To address these gaps, this study hypothesizes that explicitly coupling engineering constraints with quantitative sink terms for microbial consumption and dissolution and diffusive loss will define a net effective capacity that provides a rigorous, safety-constrained baseline distinct from static volumetric estimates. We developed a novel first-order basin-scale screening tool that integrates transport dynamics, equations of state. This framework serves as a theoretical upper-bound estimator designed to evaluate the maximum hydrogen storage capacity subject to engineering constraints and quantitative losses, distinct from predictive reservoir simulations. Applying of the model to a representative basin-scale aquifer, a set of 10 wells with inter-well distance of 5.2 km was determined to reach 1.5 Gt storage volume. Moreover, a total of eleven factors, regarding the reservoir parameters, fluid properties, engineering strategies, and their effects on the hydrogen storage capacity, were specifically analyzed. Results show that long operational time (i.e., 1000 years) usually results in increased storage volume to reach the maximum storage capacity. We conclude that while saline aquifers offer huge storage potential, their technical feasibility is strictly governed by the coupling of hydraulic injectivity and operational time. Overall, this study provides a powerful tool for accurately and efficiently quantifying hydrogen storage capacity and optimizing strategies in saline aquifer.
Rural in-migrants often introduce distinctive architectural aesthetics, driving gentrification processes in rural areas. While this new aesthetic influences local residents' architectural preferences, the factors related to these preferences remain unclear. This study investigates how interactions with rural in-migrants are associated with locals' architectural tastes and identifies other socio-cultural factors. We developed an innovative two-dimensional matrix framework for assessing architectural preferences in rural in-migration contexts, integrating rural in-migration theory with acculturation theory and validated through phototesting techniques. Through a theory-building case study, we focused on 3 villages in Dali, China, which share similar cultural backgrounds but exhibit different architectural changes in response to rural in-migration. We surveyed 335 locals and 218 migrants across these villages in 2021.
The results show that increased social interactions between locals and migrants are significantly associated with strengthened local preferences for locality-based architectural styles over globalized ones, accompanied by a narrowing of the aesthetic distance between the two groups. These findings suggest that cultural interaction processes may reinforce rather than replace local aesthetic preferences. However, this effect varies among locals due to differences in community characteristics, urban experience, future residential intentions, age, education, and marital status. This study shows that local residents demonstrate agency in cultural adaptation rather than remain passive recipients, suggesting potential pathways for communities to resist marginalization in the gentrification process.
